Friday, March 11, 2011

Marriage Bill Back to Committee [Update: The Bill is Dead This Year]

I have been flipping between Anne Kaiser's Facebook updates and Maryland Politics Watch's live-blogging of the Maryland House of Delegates' debate of the marriage equality bill, and it appears to have run into a brick wall. MPW says "The bill was recommitted to the Judiciary Committee without a single nay vote."

It sounds like there were a few nuts, but mostly serious debate. A number of those who opposed same-sex marriage seemed to do so on religious grounds. Some said they would accept a civil union bill that grants the legal privileges of marriage to same-sex couples but would not agree to using the term "marriage" for those relationships.

Some delegates also testified that they felt torn between their own beliefs favoring marriage and what they thought their constituency wanted.

It was probably sent back to committee because the supporters of the bill were not sure they had the votes to pass it. It sounds like the debate was honest and heartfelt, and now the lay of the land is clear to all. Some Delegates are solidly in favor, some are on the line, and some are clearly and immovably opposed. The most important fracture seems to be between those who would approve civil unions and those who want to go all the way with marriage. Those two groups together would form a majority, at least that's how it looks peering at the House debate through the slits of a couple of Internet sites.

[Update: Delegate Anne Kaiser is saying on Facebook that "Marriage equality will NOT be the law of the land this year." She says they were a few votes shy, it sounds like it will not come up for a vote again this year. ]

My response? Rand Paul can support such a change in the law but good luck getting my support. I simply want to see Roe v, Wade over-turned and the issue returned to the States where it has always belonged.

"Americans' approval of the job Congress is doing is on the decline again, hitting 18 percent this month after inching above the 20 percent mark in February, according to a new poll out Friday.

The Gallup survey found that Congress' approval rating is "essentially back to where it was just after last November's midterm elections."

Following a historical trend, voters' approval bumped up slightly when the new Congress took office in January, giving the GOP control of the House. Americans generally feel better about their representatives on Capitol Hill immediately following power shifts. But this year it didn't last.

Friday's approval (or disapproval) numbers fall evenly along party lines, with just 20 percent of both Republicans and Democrats giving thumbs up to Congress, according to Gallup. Fifteen percent of independents approve."

"Sarah Palin, perhaps the most closely watched of all potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates, is viewed in an unfavorable light by 60 percent of those questioned in a new Bloomberg News poll.

Palin's numbers suggest she would face a challenge in attracting voters beyond her conservative base if she decides to run for president next year. Bloomberg's survey of 1,001 adults was taken between March 4-7 by the Iowa firm, Selzer & Co. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Within the 60 percent who disapproved of Palin, 38 percent said they had "very unfavorable" feelings about her. She was viewed favorably by 28 percent, with only 4 percent not sure how they felt. A December Bloomberg poll had Palin's unfavorable rating at 57 percent.

But the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee isn't holding back. On Thursday night, Palin told Fox News she thought union bosses were "acting like thugs" in their fight against a bill in Wisconsin taking away public employees' collective bargaining rights. Labor leaders should "turn down the rhetoric and start getting truth out there so nobody gets hurt," she said.

There was good news for President Obama in the Bloomberg poll: 45 percent said he had a "better vision" for the nation's economic future than the Republican opposition. One-third (33 percent) of the sample preferred the GOP approach, and 22 percent didn't like either or weren't sure."

"Anonymous""first step is to make sure there is not a seperate term for long-term committed exclusive heterosexual couples".

A seperate term for "committed exclusive heterosexual" couples wouldn't be such a bad idea. How else would we be able to describe the less-than-majority of so-called "committed heterosexual couples"?

Time now to focus on the abysmal failure rate of those relationships. Clean up the mess in your own home before you inject yourself into the personal lives of people you simply do no like.

Save Our Families!!

"having it on a referendum would have energized conservatives in Maryland" Of course it would have energized "conservatives" in Maryland.

It would be in keeping with the long-cherished belief that the rights of others should always be subject to the whims of people who simply cannot accept other people who are different from them. Civil Rights, after all, are always subject to public vote. That is how our black citizens and women were able to achieve the rights due to them as citizens of the United States....right?

(I suspect Anon will counter that transgenders seek to choose their sexual orientation. The answer to that is that in those circumstances, a person's sense of themselves is contrary to their anatomy. This is, for some people, a very real problem, which may be remedied by transitioning.)

As for the larger issue, the fact appears to be that the Civil Marriage Protection Act did not pass because several members of the House who are in favor of equal rights for gay people were concerned that about the responses they received from many of their constituents who do not, apparently, have that understanding.

Most people have good hearts, and, at the end of the day, do not let dogma or theology get in the way of common sense caring. But the day is not over. Straight people have nothing to fear from allowing gay people to have equal rights. No one is "turned gay" by legitimatizing gay people. But most people have not had the occasion to learn about the realities in this area. So the discussions will continue.